This is to inform the Tibetan people that Dr. Lobsang Palden Tawo will be withdrawing from the Kalon Tripa Nominee position and not be in the race. Dr. Tawo had a sudden unforseen illness which required hospitalization. He is stable and recovering but will need treatment and time to recover over the next months to come and avoid stress. He regrets all the inconvinience and disappointment it has caused to his supporters and at the same time thanks them all. We hope and pray that the best person become Kalon Tripa, on behalf of the tibetan people and Tibet`s future! Thank you.
Introduction by : Professor Ngawang Phuntsog
Dr. Lobsang Palden Tawo was born in Kham-Tehor in Tibet.
As a small child he fled his homeland in 1959 with his parents when the Chinese took over power in Tibet.
In Kalimpong he attended the St. Augustin School for nearly 2 years. After that, he joined the Central Tibetan School in Simla. At the very young age of 12, he left India for Germany with some other Tibetan children in 1963.
After the successful completion of his undergraduate education, he studied medicine in the renowned University of Heidelberg.
Following the completion of his medical education in 1979, he worked in different hospitals in Germany to gain a wide range of experience. Since 1989 he has been working in the Departement of Gastroenterology as a Senior Doctor in the State Hospital of Ludenscheid, which is affiliated with the University of Bonn.
He married Choeni Lhamo in 1973. They have three children. Besides his work, Dr. Lobsang Palden Tawo has been very active in the Tibetan freedom movement ever since his childhood.
He worked in different Tibetan organizations and was also the initiator of "Tibet Initiative Deutschland." Launched in 1989, the Initiative is now one of the largest political organizations in Europe, run by mostly German Friends:
www.tibet-initiative.de .
Additionally, he is a passionate songwriter, poet and singer. All the profits from his music are donated to Sherig Lhankhang, Tibetan Homes Foundation, and other social projects. In 1995 he started a project in Tibet — called Tadra — with his wife and some friends. They built two children's villages for orphans in Kham and Amdo. Some of these children are already attending colleges or studying medicine. In 2008 he handed over the project to promote local responsibility.
Finally, for the last 14 years he has become a frequent contact person for interviews of Radio Free Asia and Voice of America (VOA) on the field of medicine and often on subjects of philosophy and natural science. Thus he is truly a multi-talented and highly accomplished individual.
INTERVIEW WITH PALDEN TAWO BY MONIKA DEIMANN-CLEMENS
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INTERVIEW IN TIBETAN BY HORZANG NAMKHA TENZIN "TIBETTIMES"
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INTERVIEWS WITH TWO GERMAN MAGAZINES
1 INTERVIEW WITH „FOCUS ON TIBET “:
Lobsang Palden Tawo is a native of the eastern Tibetan region of Kham. In 1959, at the age of eight, he initially fled from his homeland to India with his parents. There, he was one of the group of 12 children who were brought to southern Germany in 1963. After graduating from school, he studied medicine at the University of Heidelberg and worked in several clinics. Starting in 1982, he has worked as senior physician of the internal medicine department of the Lüdenscheid Clinic, specializing in gastroenterology. Along with his professional career, his engagement for Tibet has shaped his life. He was a founding member of the Association of Tibetans in Germany (Verein der Tibeter in Deutschland, VTD), and was also the initiator of the Tibet Initiative Deutschland (Germany, TID) in 1989. At the end of the 1990’s, he withdrew from political work and founded the Tadra Project, which carries out social, educational and cultural projects in eastern Tibet. Klemens Ludwig spoke with him about the prospects for political and project work for the Tibetan people.
FOCUS ON TIBET :
Tibet’s tragedy began with the Chinese occupation in 1950; nine years later it became obvious to the world in the wake of a failed popular uprising and the flight of the Dalai Lama. Nonetheless, more than a quarter of a century was to pass before political support arose that was characterised by a large-scale solidarity movement. What might have caused such a discrepancy? more.......
Read this interview in german here...
2 INTERVIEW WITH THE GERMAN MAGAZINE JALICANO
When did you come to Germany, and why?
Did you run into difficulties leaving Tibet?
The Chinese annexed Tibet in 1950. On March 10 1959, a popular revolt erupted in Tibet, which
was brutally crushed. In the wake of this, hundreds of thousands of Tibetans fled over the
Himalayas to India and Nepal, among them myself and my parents. I had just turned 8. Many thousands of Tibetans died uring their flight and later in the refugee camps in India, with the
majority dying from freezing and exhaustion while fleeing. We were lucky, because my father was a businessman and therefore knew the ways to India and Nepal, thanks to his previous journeys. Like many other Tibetan children, I was placed in a school for refugees in Simla, in northern India. In
1963, a German delegation from a humanitarian organization appeared in our school. When they
saw our misery and desperate situation, they agreed to bring 12 children back to Germany andarrange for their education. That is how I came to Germany as a refugee child. more.......